Fur seals belong to the group
known as the Otarid or "eared" seals, this group contains fur seals
and sea-lions that have a visible earflap.
Southern fur seals in appearance
and manner resemble a large dog (albeit a funny shaped one). They
are able to bring their rear flippers under their body and take
the weight of their body on their fore-flippers and so are much
more agile on land compared to others such as elephant, Weddell
and crabeater seals.
The males can reach 200kg (440lb)
and can be up to 4 times larger than the females. They are restricted
mainly to the sub-Antarctic islands, with 95% of the worlds population
being found on the island of South Georgia.
Photo; © Paul Ward - Pentax equipment,
100mm lens, 35mm film, K64.
This picture may not be copied
or used in any manner without prior written permission.
